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is my supply decreasing already???

My LO turned 3 months yesterday and untill now she's been BF exclusively. I've returned to work 3 weeks ago, this is my 4th, and pumping, of course. Untill this week my pumping output was a little more than what she needed for the time while I'm gone. Since yesterday she started eating more ( 100mL each feeding) and there is no way I can pump 100 mL each time! I couldn't on my best days before, but sunce yesterday I pump even less then before. I'm taking Mother's milk plus, drink water...Is there anything I should do to increase it? I BF in the evening, at nioght and on weekends, she doesn' t seem hungry, this past sunday she didn't nurse more often...The only new problem we have now is that she starts crying every time after nursing for 10min (not late at night, then she's ok), but once I stop feeding her, she's ok, acts happy, plays, sleeps...It takes me 30 min sometimes to "squeeze" 3 oz out of myself while pumping, and she eats 100 mL from the bottle, is it possible she's full in 10 min???

Re: is my supply decreasing already???

What sort of pump do you have? And how often are you pumping?

The more often and the more thoroughly you remove milk from the breast, the faster your production will come up.

You might want to try:
- Using the best pump you can- sometimes this means a hospital-grade rental pump
- Pumping after nursing when you are together with your baby
- Power pumping (Pump both sides for 10 minutes, rest for 10, pump for 10, rest for 10, and pump again for 10 for a total of 30 minutes of pumping in a 1-hour period- this is supposed to mimic the way a baby feeds and boosts its mom's supply during a growth spurt)
- Adding additional pumping sessions to your routine, perhaps even in the nighttime hours

Hang in there! You're doing an awesome job- I really admire you moms who work and pump and take care of your families at the same time.

Re: is my supply decreasing already???

I'm in the same boat as you. I went back to work and have to pump. There are days I would swear I'm drying up based on pumping output but we've made it five months so something is working.

Anyway what works for me is to pump every single night (wee hours when baby is asleep and doesn't need to eat from the tap) whether I work the next day or not. THis allows me to build up a reserve which gets used on the days I do work. THen I also pump twice at work (regular 8 hr day) and although I don't pump enough for when I'm gone, the extra that I pumped over weekends, and other nights makes up the difference.

While pumping I drink a mothers milk tea....Maybe more for psychology than true effect but anything helps!